? 2/24 Binx AMPS 86, +2 117, +4 106, +6 79 - LC Tiki Cat spiking BG?

[Briana + Binx]

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Our first green AMPS is almost 2 months, I'm shocked. Seeing how his last couple days have been, I'm even more convinced now that the switch to Tiki Cat was impacting his numbers... I just don't understand why! Anyone have any ideas? It was Tiki Cat After Dark Pate+ and he was getting 1/2 a can more than FF to maintain calories, but he used to get extra snacks anyways. I'd say he's moderate-high carb sensitive, as I can usually give him LC to bring him up when he's dropping. However, this Tiki Cat is supposed to be the same, if not lower carb than Fancy Feast.

I'd still like to get him on a low pho AND low carb diet, but my options are even slimmer now.

Safe surfing all

 

[Staci & Ivy]

Last post

Our first green AMPS is almost 2 months, I'm shocked. Seeing how his last couple days have been, I'm even more convinced now that the switch to Tiki Cat was impacting his numbers... I just don't understand why! Anyone have any ideas? It was Tiki Cat After Dark Pate+ and he was getting 1/2 a can more than FF to maintain calories, but he used to get extra snacks anyways. I'd say he's moderate-high carb sensitive, as I can usually give him LC to bring him up when he's dropping. However, this Tiki Cat is supposed to be the same, if not lower carb than Fancy Feast.

I'd still like to get him on a low pho AND low carb diet, but my options are even slimmer now.

Safe surfing all

Well great news with the green BG!
It makes sense about the carbs and his numbers.

And since we know they change their formulations, and we would have no way of knowing about it, I think the lists become out of date to no one‘s fault.

Hopefully you have figured out what’s going on and will be able to keep him back in better numbers.

Great job, Briana, and hope that your discovery leads to better BG and that you will be able to find another food that will check all the boxes for Mr. Binx!

 

[Mary & Jude]

Yay for the greenies, little guy!!!

I believe General Mills bought out Tiki in late 2024. I looked at the CKD food chart, which was updated 9/25, and most all of those Tiki After Dark Pate+ are super low carb. There was one, though, that was Chicken Quail Egg in Broth which was 9% in one of the entries. I don't think that one has the "+" beside it. I noticed other Chicken Quail Egg versions that were lower in carbs. Now, it's possible that the list owner doesn't check each of the foods every time he updates, and perhaps GM has made a formula change. I'm not sure. It is odd that his numbers are so much better off on
the Tiki, though.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Might not be the food, might be the cat. Now that he's over 6 units total dose, you should consider getting him tested for acromegaly (IGF-1 test) and IAA test (insulin auto antibodies). Acromegaly (benign tumour of the pituitary) impacts one in four diabetic cats. IAA is sort of like an allergy to injected insulin. Take a look at Seth's Bell as one such example. Sometimes cats have both conditions, like my Neko did. There are treatments for acromegaly, so it's worth testing to see if it is present. IAA is said to be time limited and sometimes we'll tweak the dosing for it. Once a cat gets to six units, and is on low carb food, chances are pretty high there is another secondary condition causing the need for more insulin.

 

[Briana + Binx]

Well great news with the green BG!
It makes sense about the carbs and his numbers.

And since we know they change their formulations, and we would have no way of knowing about it, I think the lists become out of date to no one‘s fault.

Hopefully you have figured out what’s going on and will be able to keep him back in better numbers.

Great job, Briana, and hope that your discovery leads to better BG and that you will be able to find another food that will check all the boxes for Mr. Binx!

Yay for the greenies, little guy!!!

I believe General Mills bought out Tiki in late 2024. I looked at the CKD food chart, which was updated 9/25, and most all of those Tiki After Dark Pate+ are super low carb. There was one, though, that was Chicken Quail Egg in Broth which was 9% in one of the entries. I don't think that one has the "+" beside it. I noticed other Chicken Quail Egg versions that were lower in carbs. Now, it's possible that the list owner doesn't check each of the foods every time he updates, and perhaps GM has made a formula change. I'm not sure. It is odd that his numbers are so much better off on
the Tiki, though.

Yay, thanks Staci and Mary Appreciate the review of the food chart too, Mary!

It is quite strange and it's possible the formula has changed but I also ran the numbers through a carb calculator and got the same values as the recent chart, so I'm not 100% what it could be linked to. Perhaps like Wendy said, it may not even be the food or maybe Binx doesn't like the new food and is simply responding to his distaste (although he'll eat anything More trial and error to come with another low pho option!

 

[Briana + Binx]

Might not be the food, might be the cat. Now that he's over 6 units total dose, you should consider getting him tested for acromegaly (IGF-1 test) and IAA test (insulin auto antibodies). Acromegaly (benign tumour of the pituitary) impacts one in four diabetic cats. IAA is sort of like an allergy to injected insulin. Take a look at Seth's Bell as one such example. Sometimes cats have both conditions, like my Neko did. There are treatments for acromegaly, so it's worth testing to see if it is present. IAA is said to be time limited and sometimes we'll tweak the dosing for it. Once a cat gets to six units, and is on low carb food, chances are pretty high there is another secondary condition causing the need for more insulin.

Thanks for flagging, Wendy! Pleased to report I brought him in about a week ago and we should be getting results in this week... once he hit 6 units AND was presenting with a pot belly, I was suspicious and started talking to the vet. We're just testing for acro first and then depending on results, I may take him in for IAA too. He's also borderline hyperthryoid, so I opted to get a free t4 test with his acro test, so we'll see if that's tipped the scale. Hopefully will know more soon, then will do some reading and I know you're the expert as your Neko had both, like you mentioned, so I may reach back out for additional info!

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Glad to hear you are on the testing. Unfortunate about the IAA test. Blood also goes to MSU and is a cheap add on if done same time. We have had a number of kitties that are IAA only.

HyperT can also make it harder to regulate, so good to test that too. Though it’s not usually the reason for north of 6 units. Acros/IAA still appear at lower doses, but not as many are tested unless really obvious conditions. Only about 35% have clinical signs at diagnosis of acro.

 

[Briana + Binx]

Glad to hear you are on the testing. Unfortunate about the IAA test. Blood also goes to MSU and is a cheap add on if done same time. We have had a number of kitties that are IAA only.

HyperT can also make it harder to regulate, so good to test that too. Though it’s not usually the reason for north of 6 units. Acros/IAA still appear at lower doses, but not as many are tested unless really obvious conditions. Only about 35% have clinical signs at diagnosis of acro.

Oh wow! I didn’t realize it could be present without signs/symptoms.

Agreed about IAA, the vet didn’t tell me it’d be more expensive separately and ultimately it was a financial decision at the time, but now it sounds like maybe would’ve been cheaper. We did send enough blood for them to test IAA too and the vet tech was reaching out to MSU to see if the blood could remain stable until after acro testing, but I’ll be following up tomorrow to confirm.